A series of settlements have been announced in the Cook County Administration Building fire of 2003, which killed six people. Victims will now receive $25.3 million, of which Cook County will pay $9 million.

For the victims, it means the end of a long wait for an appropriate compensation for the trauma of that day, while for Cook County it means prevention of possible financial ruin if the case had actually gone to a jury. As it stands now, the insurance companies will pay the settlement. If the case had gone to a jury, Cook County would have been liable to pay out any amounts over their insurance coverage.

The fire broke out in the locker storage room of the building on October 17,2003. The six victims and another 16 others who were injured were trapped in the stairwell that had self-locking doors. The stairwell filled up with smoke, while the victims called for help on their cell phones.

One survivor’s, Jody Schneiderman’s, phone call to 911 was played out at a court hearing last year. In it, Schneiderman can be heard pleading for rescuers to come get them quick, while sounds of panic were heard all around her.

When the blaze had died down, 6 were dead, and the survivors were left to relive memories of that horrific day. As it turned out in the days after, a series of mistakes by firefighters and Cook County 911 services were to blame for the catastrophe. There was a complete lack of coordination, it appeared, which lead to confusion on the ground. They also failed to mark one stairwell for evacuation purposes to get those trapped in the building out to safety, and another for fire fighting purposes. The consequences were tragic.

This settlement is good for the county in more ways than one. Not only would they have been liable to pay the settlement from their own funds, which would have stretched them financially had the case gone to a jury, but they also avoid a rehashing of the sort of criticism that the fire department faced soon after the fire. A jury trial would have reopened old wounds and whipped up emotions against the Chicago Fire Department, a prospect Cook County probably didn’t relish. They can also avoid the prospect of survivors recounting damaging testimony about the complete and utter mismanagement that occurred on that day. One survivor said that she was ordered back into the stairwell by a firefighter. The stairwell quickly filled up with smoke. Such instances of ineptitude do nothing for the image that Cook County tries so dearly to protect, hence the relief over the settlement.

An old precedent makes Cook County immune to lawsuits that have been caused by errors of firefighters and other emergency service personnel, but exceptions have been made in this case. Obviously, the instances of ineptitude by the firefighters were glaring enough to set aside old precedents.

If you have been injured or a loved one has been killed in a fuel-fed fire, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.